Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-10-15
SHORTHAND.
A Brief and InteresiiD History OF tAe
Invention and ils Progress
Among the Nations.
Did the Phonetic Prilcipie Originate in
America or EngIano?-The Senate
Reporters Salary.
Har per's Weekly.

gress, which net September &c, for 8
weeks session in London, England, will
be remembered by shorthand writer's al
over the world for many years to come
At this congress there were discussions
on various phases of the art by represent
ALlyes from America, Germany, France,
Holland and Russia; the issue OF DIR.
Tim0my BrighC's Characterize, one of the
earliest English manuals of Shorthand,
was comm mOrated, and the proceedings
inCluCed d jubilee celebration of the in
YentiOn OF photography, this year max
ing the f1ftieth anniversary of that i'm
portsnt event.
To Isaac Pitman of Bath, England,
must be given the credit of producing the
most popular system Of shorthand that
has ever been used, and upon the general
principles of wAich all future systems of
writing by signs will be based. Mr.. Pit
man is now nearly seyenty-fiVe years of
age. As a lad he received a common
EchOOl education, was clerk ia ais fathers
cloth-mill, aud when seventeen years of
age mastered ore of the old systems of
slenography (Fsylor's), with which
ne reported slow speakers. Sub
sequently he prepared man
uRI of shorthand founded on
this system, and later issued book called
"StenogrsE hic Sound-hsud," or sign
writing by sound This was published In
1887, the year of Queen Victuria's coro-
nation, Mr. Pitmsn being twenty four
years of age. Since then Mr.. PitmaD,
who for many years has been his own
publisher, has issued mary books on
photography, all of which nsve had 8 large
sale: of one of them, The Te&cher, more
thSn million coplt + have b en- SOLD. Mr.
Pitman in his old age is hard worker.
For nearly a quarter Of century he has
been strict vegetarian, eating neither
f4sh, fish nor fowl, and abstsning from
wine, beer and liquors.
Although Isaac Pitman has always been
credited With the invention of phono-
graphy, recent discCv ny seems to sho@
that an American introduced the phonetic
principle some years before Mr.. PitmsD
published his Sound-Hand. A few years
agO book on short hand was found in
Vermont, written many years before by
the Rev. Phinehas Bailey, and in which
certain rule for writing by sound are
clearly laid down. Mr.. Bailey was born
in New Hampsh re, and settled in Yer
mont, when he was youth. He studied
on the subject that came in his
way when be was preparing for the min
istTy. Years affeT, he endeaVoreG to i'm
prove on the cumbersome system. The
phonetic principle is said tn have occur.
red 10 him while ne was walking home
one day. His wife saw him smiling, and |
asked him if he had found q gold mine. |
He replied: "If it were not contrary to |
I boS
revelation frem heaven"
After working hard at his new system, |
Ar. Bailey published small book on |
writing short-h apd by sound. This WAS |
in 1919, st which time Isaac Pitman was
only nix years old. This book passed
through many editions, but the system
neY5r became generally popular, and 1t is /
only Of late that attention has been called /
TO it. 1t i3 not claimed by auy one that ]
Pitmsn took MS phonetic idea from |
Bailey; b0th men worked on the same |
lines, and though BsIley's system is very
ingenious, PItmsn's is better adapted to |
practical use.
To prevent confusion in the mind of the |
reader some explanation Of general terms |
is necessary. The word shorthand" is !
applet to any system of writing by |
signs. "Stenography," or the old system |
of shorthand, VAS based on our common |
alphabet, sign being provided for each |
letter, and words being written with the |
FoWels omitted. Some of the old sys- |
TENS provided signs for certain sounds, |
but II remained for Pltman to discover |
the sounds of the whole language and pro-
Vldet sign for each. In photography"
MI words are written by sound, without |
any reference to the wsy they are spelled.
To illustrate: The word s'they," tha;
'fwriting," riting; "though," tho, etc.
The forms or signs in the old systems
were long, awkward to make, and
cumbersome, but the old stenogra
ply, in competent hands, answered
all practical purposes. For several
8 family Of stenographers
have done the reporting of the English
House of Parliament, using a shorthand
based on q system invented by Thomas
Carney, an ancestor, who reported In
Parliament century ago. In our own
Congress there have been Official reporters
who used the old systems, and one of
them, William Hinckes, who died eight
years ago, was, according to the authority
Of an old New York phouoGrapher, the
most rapid shorthand writer that has
ever been -een IN the United States. Mr..
Hinckes VIZ te pure stenography-i. e.,
separate sign for esch letter OF our COM
mon alphabet. He used few arbitrsries,
Dr. special signs, and his notes, written
on unruled psper in large hand, would
strike terror into the ghost of an Egyptian
mummy; the signs looked as bad as
of Egyptian hieroglyphics
md cuneifoTm writing.
Stepography is laughed at by many
but the fact is that it is
inst as practicable as the new system,
,nly it requires more practice to become
proficient. It has certain advantages
,yer photography; the signs can be writ
EN- without regard to lines and there is
20 distinction between light and heavy
t,okes as there is in writing photography.
sut photography is scientific, and, in spite !
& some disadvantages connected with it, !
will always be popular.
Text books on photography began to
ppesr in the United States in 1916, the /
Irst ones being published by Andrews &
,oyle. In ls4S Oliver Dyer, now and for Il
long time editor of the New York G
ledger, started q photographic journal. c
n the same year Elias LoDgley of Gin
innati entered the deld of photographic ?
,shor;1y oDd In I24I there arrived in p